Chapter 400

400 – A Certain Girl and the Royal Banquet 4 (side Miria)

Probably, the danger rank of the monsters disguised as soldiers is C+. Together with Meltia-san and Kuro-chan, I have have managed to subjugate a monster of that class before.

But the monster we fought that time wasn’t much faster than us, and didn’t have ranged attacks. In other words, the match-up were good and we could compensate for the difference in ability through our advantage in numbers. On top of that, we aimed for the opponent’s weak spot, prepared a trap, and still just barely managed to come out on top.

I didn’t think it would be this terrifying to fight an intelligent monster that has a balance of speed and strength. We also don’t have Kuro-chan, who has been the cornerstone of our strength.

The worst part is that there about twenty of those monsters in this room alone. Throughout the entire castle, there’s probably over ten times that number.

“Hahaha…”

I notice that I’ve become unable to stand and have sunk down. Coming here was the mistake. There’s nothing that can be done anymore.

“If piercing attacks are no good, then how about this?”

“Mu?”

A hooded man twirls through the air and places a gloved hand on the head of the soldier tormenting Meltia-san. Behind his swaying purple hair, a tattoo of a wolf-like monster is drawn from his left eye to the corner of his mouth. It’s 『Death Flame Garzan』, the top-class close-range mage.

“[Milli Bomb]!”

Starting from his hand, purple flames expand explosively.

“Oboh!”

Inside the smoke, the head of the soldier bursts open. The headless body slams against the ground. The body twitches, then its shape break apart and it spreads out like a pool of liquid, soaking into the carpet.

Garzan-san dances through the air from the recoil and lightly lands on the floor.

“I had to wait for the perfect timing to attack. As far as I can see, if I don’t surprise them, I’d lose to their speed. She’s still breathing, so I don’t think it’s fatal.”

“Th-thank you very much!”

Suppressing my trembling, I thank him as I run up to Meltia-san and put a hand on her body.

“[Rest]!”

Her eyes open slightly.

“U-ugu… Miria, my sword…”

“You can’t fight like that! The most we can do is try to get away!”

I shake my head.

“We should leave it to the others… In the first place, we were only summoned here because of Kuro-chan’s strength.”

We’re different from Volk-san, who can calmly take on three of them while surrounded, or Garzan-san, who can burst their heads with a single attack. The limit for the two of us without Kuro-chan would be fighting an upper D rank at the most. We’re too far out of our depth.

As we’re doing this, Garzan-san is taking on his next opponent. He’s using a knife to ward off the soldier’s attacks.

“It seems surprise attacks are your limit. In terms of actual abilities, you’re no match for us!”

The strange-faced soldier’s tentacle stretches out and slams into Garzan-san’s stomach, causing his posture to crumble. As he collapses, the sword in the soldier’s other hand swings down.

“[Milli Bomb]!”

Purple flames explode from Garzan-san’s outstretched hand. He distances himself again by riding the blast, while at the same time, the soldier’s arm is destroyed.

“Impudent adventurer…!”

“Drawn out battles aren’t my strong point, after all.”

All of a sudden, Garzan-san’s leg is pulled by a hidden tentacle, dragging him to the ground.

“Wha-!?”

“Certainly, that magic skill has good compatibility against us. It was quite the powerful blow, but… It’s still not enough to fight us. Didn’t I say? It doesn’t matter if you aim for our chest or head, we don’t have any weaknesses. Our regenerative abilities are also high, so… While I was pretending to be down, my injuries from you have already healed, see?”

The soldier whose head had been burst by Garzan-san is standing up and in perfect condition. There’s no sign of any injuries at all.

“I’m going to pay you back for the damage. I don’t know if a human will be able to withstand it, but let’s start by messing up your face.”

The strange-faced soldier pulls Garzan-san closer, then extends his other arm to strike at his face. Blood scatters, while the soldier’s other hand holds him in place, preventing him from being blown backwards. He’s then struck a second time.

“What’s wrong!? Having your head blown off like that hurts enough to die, you know! If you’re going to do that to someone else, you have to be ready to take it yourself, right!? Isn’t that what it means to be human!?”

His tentacle pulls back in an arc, stretching longer. Tension builds up in it.

“St-stop…”

A pleading voice escapes from my mouth, but of course the monster doesn’t listen. The tentacle tears through the air, releasing a dreadful sound as it shaves away flesh and blood in a spray of red.

“I almost got too carried away and killed him. I need to make sure princess-sama can get the experience.”

Garzan-san falls limply to the floor.

“…Miria, leave me. Please run now.”

“N-no! I can’t do that! In the first place, you only came here for my sake…!”

“At this rate, we’ll just both die!”

“B-but!”

I look around. Two of the strange-faced soldiers are guarding each door.

We’re totally blocked in. They must aim to kill us all. If we were going to run, it would have had to have been before the battle began like Volk-san said, or the seconds right after it started.

I can’t see any way to take Meltia-san with me and somehow escape from this place. I desperately try to think, looking around. Fortunately, probably because they see me as having a low combat ability, none of the soldiers are coming to attack.

Unless I try and escape outside, they must have judged that they can leave me for later. I might be inconsequential to them, but I’m grateful for the time to calmly think and heal Meltia-san’s wounds.

In a corner of the hall, the monocled man, 『Mind’s Eye Bernard』, is using magic to support the old swordsman, Romrodon, and his apprentice as they face off against three of the soldiers. But they’re clearly being pressed. Romrodon-san is just barely managing to protect them all. Each of them are covered in cuts, and it seems unlikely that they’ll last much longer.

I finally understand. Those three… They probably knew that Princess Chris was suspicious from the start, and purposefully got themselves invited here so they could conduct an investigation. That would explain why, when Volk-san first started to move, Bernard-san called out a warning to Romrodon-san. Their original plan was probably to expose the identity of the princess, or to assassinate her.

The robed blond woman with her face hidden is fighting one of the strange-faced soldiers, desperately fending off his attacks. She’s avoiding the rapidly expanding tentacle and the fierce attacks from his sword by paper-thin margins.

But… Why is it? I get the feeling her expression is a little forced. Is she pretending to struggle on purpose? No, I can’t imagine a reason she’d have to do that… She might be able to avoid attracting more attention to herself, but that’s meaningless if the other adventurers go down.

The Dragon Hunter, Volk-san, is surrounded by ten of the strange-faced soldiers.

“Don’t get too close! Watch his arm movements! We should be able to see the start of that dangerous [Shockwave]!”

“My level is low! Don’t ask the impossible! I’m devoted to logistical support!”

“Can’t we slow him down a bit more!?”

“We can’t! Even now, [High Slow] and [Poison] are reducing his physical ability as much as possible! Defeat him now!”

The reason why a minimal force is sent against the other adventurers is because Volk-san is taking the rest of them on by himself. Surrounded by enemies and covered in blood from his many wounds, he laughs fearlessly and confirms the locations of his prey.

But other than the old swordsman trio, the blond swordswoman, and the Dragon Hunter Volk, the rest of the adventurers have all fallen to the floor and lost consciousness. Some of them have had parts of their bodies dissolved, becoming ghastly spectacles. There’s no telling whether they’re dead or alive. The only reason Meltia-san and I are safe is because we’re ignored due to our weakness.